Claire Anderson
Executive Director and Co-founder
Claire Anderson is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project, a New Orleans–based nonprofit that empowers young people to understand and respond to the water and climate challenges shaping their lives. With more than a decade of experience in public schools, Claire brings a deep understanding of teaching and teachers to her leadership. She knows firsthand what it takes for ambitious science ideas to work in real classrooms—and she has built Ripple Effect to bridge the gap between visionary curriculum design and day-to-day implementation.
Under her leadership, Ripple Effect has grown from a single classroom experiment into a multi-year partner to schools and districts across South Louisiana. The organization’s approach combines curriculum design projects tied to local water and climate issues, robust teacher learning systems, and long-term partnerships with school districts—supported by strong evaluation practices and research collaborations that study how students and teachers engage with complex socioecological water issues, including their justice and ethical dimensions.
Claire has also advanced Ripple Effect’s role at the systems level, most recently by launching Louisiana Evergreen, a collaborative initiative that brings organizations together to define and tackle the systemic barriers that undermine effective and sustained environmental education.
By setting vision and quality standards, bringing together experts, and securing resources, Claire ensures Ripple Effect delivers science education that is rigorous, relevant, and rooted in the realities of students’ lives.
Past and Current Projects
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Led curriculum writing process, and contributed to unit-level storyline development; led teacher professional development in Year 1, planned and facilitated curriculum development workshops
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Project lead, responsible for establishing partnerships, planning and co-facilitating curriculum workshops, and conceiving and executing teacher professional development; contributed to unit storylining and lesson-level development
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Co-conceived and implemented teacher fellowship experience with Mondo Bizarro, wrote 4th grade science curriculum, provided project management and financial oversight
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Led initial workshop with consortium members, led interviewing process with over 70 water-focused educators, practitioners, researchers, and community leaders, contributed writing and content development in the culminating reports
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Led concept design and strategic planning; provide financial oversight and project management; guide long-term strategy and provide backbone administrative support, to ensure long-term viability of the initiative
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Conceive and direct teacher professional learning, lead curriculum writing for Louisiana mini-units, liaise with KIPP New Orleans regional administrators,
Publications & Presentations
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (in press). Puddles to Floods: Field-based investigations on flooding in New Orleans. Science & Children.
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (2024). Moving Through Uncertainty: Supporting Teachers and Students in Shifting to Inquiry-based Science while Learning about Stormwater Flooding in New Orleans. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Davis, N. (2023, April 13-16). Murky Waters: Designing for Critical Water Literacy & the Self-Determination of Black Children Living with Environmental Instability [Presentation]. 2023 AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois.
Anderson, C., & Sprague, B. (2021). Water Literacy: A Shared Vision For K–12 Environmental Education. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Sprague, B. (2021). Ripple Effect Water Literacy Stakeholder Reports 1-6. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Nicholas, L. K. (2019). Water Literacy: Transdisciplinary Methods for Strengthening K–12 Science Education. SUS-RURI: Proceedings of a Workshop on Developing a Convergence Sustainable Urban Systems Agenda for Redesigning the Urban-Rural Interface along the Mississippi River Watershed Held in Ames, Iowa, August 12–13, 2019. https://doi.org/10.31274/3d9ea6a4.9ddf8c7b
Anderson, C., Carpenter, A., & Mauch (Kelsch), K. (2019, September 4-6). Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project [Poster]. 2019 Planetary Health Annual Meeting, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.